Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Surface Active Agents01:27

Surface Active Agents

69
Surfactants, named for their behavior at interfaces, positively adsorb at the interfaces of two phases, reducing interfacial tension. Their versatility as emulsifiers, detergents, and foaming agents stems from this ability. Surfactants, often termed amphiphiles, share the property of amphipathy, with molecules having both hydrophilic and hydrophobic portions. The hydrophilic part is called the head, and the hydrophobic part, including an elongated alkyl substituent, forms the tail.Surfactants...
69
The Colloidal State01:29

The Colloidal State

86
The formation of a colloidal system is exemplified by an aqueous solution containing Cl− ions is introduced to another containing Ag+ ions, resulting in the precipitation of solid AgCl as extremely tiny crystals. Instead of settling out as a filterable precipitate, these crystals remain suspended in the liquid, showcasing a colloidal system.A colloidal system involves colloidal particles within the approximate range of 1 to 1000 nm in at least one dimension, dispersed in a medium called...
86
Colloids03:22

Colloids

21.9K
Children at play often make suspensions such as mixtures of mud and water, flour and water, or a suspension of solid pigments in water known as tempera paint. These suspensions are heterogeneous mixtures composed of relatively large particles that are visible to the naked eye or can be seen with a magnifying glass. They are cloudy, and the suspended particles settle out after mixing. On the other hand, a solution is a homogeneous mixture in which no settling occurs and in which the dissolved...
21.9K
Colloidal precipitates01:09

Colloidal precipitates

6.8K
The high insolubility of some precipitates can result in an unfavorable relative supersaturation. This can lead to colloidal particles with a large surface-to-mass ratio, where adsorption is promoted. For instance, in the precipitation of silver chloride, silver ions are adsorbed on the surface of the colloidal particles, forming a primary layer. This layer attracts ions of opposite charge (such as nitrate ions), forming a diffuse secondary layer of adsorbed ions. This electric double layer...
6.8K
Micelles01:30

Micelles

143
Micelle formation is an intricate process that hinges on the properties of amphiphilic or amphipathic molecules and the conditions of the system in which they are found. Amphiphilic molecules, which have both hydrophilic (water-attracting) and hydrophobic (water-repelling) parts, play a critical role in this process.In aqueous environments, these molecules arrange themselves such that their hydrophilic heads are turned towards the water phase, while their hydrophobic tails are oriented away...
143
Solubility03:00

Solubility

22.0K
Solution, Solubility, and Solubility Equilibrium
A solution is a homogeneous mixture composed of a solvent, the major component, and a solute, the minor component. The physical state of a solution—solid, liquid, or gas—is typically the same as that of the solvent. Solute concentrations are often described with qualitative terms such as dilute (of relatively low concentration) and concentrated (of relatively high concentration).
In a solution, the solute particles (molecules,...
22.0K

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Biomechanical anticoagulation by spherical platelets in extracorporeal systems.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
Same author

Restoring the Morphology and Function of Damaged Red Blood Cells.

Small methods·2026
Same author

Cyclic Strain and Macrophage-Mediated Transport Govern Micron-Sized PM<sub>2</sub>.<sub>5</sub> Translocation across the Air-Blood Barrier.

Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany)·2025
Same author

Spatiotemporal-controlled ultrasound-driven Li-PDA@ZnO nanoparticles promote neural stem cell differentiation synergy with biohydrogel repair spinal cord injury.

Bioactive materials·2025
Same author

Design and optimization of antithrombogenic surface textures on bileaflet mechanical heart valves.

The International journal of artificial organs·2025
Same author

Salvinia-inspired architectures for enhancing interface stability and mass transfer in microchannels.

Lab on a chip·2025
Same journal

Serum vitamin D level and its association with vertigo frequency and severity in Meniere disease.

Scientific reports·2026
Same journal

PFA-Net: a physics-informed feature enhancement and attention network for interpretable bearing fault diagnosis under strong noise.

Scientific reports·2026
Same journal

Circulating inflammatory, redox, and apoptosis-related alterations in drug-naive idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: an exploratory case-control study.

Scientific reports·2026
Same journal

A baseline-oriented dynamic aggregation approach for demand-side heterogeneous controllable resources.

Scientific reports·2026
Same journal

Temporal precision and accuracy in schizophrenia: an exploratory study.

Scientific reports·2026
Same journal

Prefrontal EEG spectral and nonlinear signatures of subthreshold depression during resting state and affectively valenced picture/video viewing: a participant-level analysis.

Scientific reports·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Mar 20, 2026

Self-Nanoemulsification of Healthy Oils to Enhance the Solubility of Lipophilic Drugs
08:18

Self-Nanoemulsification of Healthy Oils to Enhance the Solubility of Lipophilic Drugs

Published on: July 27, 2022

1.7K

Altering Emulsion Stability with Heterogeneous Surface Wettability.

Qiang Meng1, Yali Zhang2, Jiang Li1

  • 1Mechanical Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China.

Scientific Reports
|June 4, 2016
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Heterogeneous surface wettability controls the stability of oil-in-water emulsions in microfluidics. A critical timescale governs emulsion dynamics, offering insights for controlling stability in various applications.

More Related Videos

Facile Preparation of Internally Self-assembled Lipid Particles Stabilized by Carbon Nanotubes
09:47

Facile Preparation of Internally Self-assembled Lipid Particles Stabilized by Carbon Nanotubes

Published on: February 19, 2016

10.2K
Studying Surfactant Effects on Hydrate Crystallization at Oil-Water Interfaces Using a Low-Cost Integrated Modular Peltier Device
06:31

Studying Surfactant Effects on Hydrate Crystallization at Oil-Water Interfaces Using a Low-Cost Integrated Modular Peltier Device

Published on: March 18, 2020

6.9K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Mar 20, 2026

Self-Nanoemulsification of Healthy Oils to Enhance the Solubility of Lipophilic Drugs
08:18

Self-Nanoemulsification of Healthy Oils to Enhance the Solubility of Lipophilic Drugs

Published on: July 27, 2022

1.7K
Facile Preparation of Internally Self-assembled Lipid Particles Stabilized by Carbon Nanotubes
09:47

Facile Preparation of Internally Self-assembled Lipid Particles Stabilized by Carbon Nanotubes

Published on: February 19, 2016

10.2K
Studying Surfactant Effects on Hydrate Crystallization at Oil-Water Interfaces Using a Low-Cost Integrated Modular Peltier Device
06:31

Studying Surfactant Effects on Hydrate Crystallization at Oil-Water Interfaces Using a Low-Cost Integrated Modular Peltier Device

Published on: March 18, 2020

6.9K

Area of Science:

  • Colloid and Surface Science
  • Microfluidics
  • Materials Science

Background:

  • Emulsions are vital in food, personal care, pharmaceuticals, and crude oil processing.
  • Controlling emulsion stability is challenging but critical for product performance and resource extraction.
  • Crude oil emulsions impede fuel quality and production efficiency.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how heterogeneous surface wettability influences the stability and dynamics of oil-in-water emulsions.
  • To develop a microfluidic method for creating custom heterogeneous wettability surfaces.
  • To understand the interplay between flow rates, wettability, and emulsion behavior.

Main Methods:

  • Fabrication of microfluidic capillaries with tailored heterogeneous wettability (alternating hydrophilic/hydrophobic regions).
  • Generation of oil-in-water emulsions using a co-flow microfluidic device.
  • Systematic investigation of emulsion morphology and motion under varying flow rates and wettability conditions.
  • Development of a theoretical model based on force balance and Capillary number.

Main Results:

  • A universal critical timescale for emulsion stability was identified.
  • Emulsion stability is maintained above this critical timescale; below it, emulsions destabilize (adhere or invert).
  • Emulsion dynamics are predictable using a model dependent on droplet size and Capillary number.

Conclusions:

  • Heterogeneous surface wettability is a key factor in controlling microfluidic emulsion stability and dynamics.
  • The critical timescale provides a predictive parameter for emulsion behavior.
  • This research offers a pathway to engineer emulsion stability in microfluidic systems through controlled wettability and flow conditions.